Illusionary Rose
by lazysloth2
Summary: RWBY x Touhou Project. One day, members of team RWBY suddenly found themselves in Gensokyo. what kind of adventure awaits them?
1. The beginning

This story is set a few weeks after team RWBY was formed

**Unnamed forest near Beacon**

In the quiet forest covered by large trees there are four humanoid figures running at an incredible speed, each of them have different colour, such as red, white, black and yellow. These four are the members of the newly formed huntress team RWBY. Currently, they are tasked to investigate the report about humanoid Grimm sighting near the area.

Ruby, the girl wearing a red hood, said: "are you sure this is the right way, Weiss?"

In which was replied by a girl with white hair "of course this is the right way. The report said that a group of hunters spotted a humanoid Grimm in the northern part of the forest and right now we are heading there." In high confidence.

"Wait a second, if the other group saw the mysterious Grimm, then why didn't the investigate it themselves?" asked Ruby feeling confused.

"didn't you read the report?" asked Weiss feeling a bit angry.

"Reading a report is such a pain." Said Ruby bluntly.

Feeling even more angry, Weiss said "the report stated that the group just returned from a mission, they were exhausted and one of their member was injured. So, investigating the Grimm was impossible."

"Oh, I see." Said Ruby, Yang and Blake in unison. Indicating that none of them read the report.

"You guys... I can't even... forget it." Said Weiss feeling shocked and disappointed. "How did any of you even get to the academy?"

The other three just giggle, without answering the question.

"But don't you think the atmosphere around here a bit weird?" said a girl wearing a black ribbon named Blake. "This place is so quiet, I can't even hear the sound of birds and insects."

"Now that you mention it, this place really is quiet... too quiet." Said the Yang, girl with yellow hair, while still running, following the other three girls.

"Perhaps the animals around here were driven out by the Grimm. We know that Grimm also attack animals, not just humans." Said the white haired girl in a calm manner.

"That's true!" said the other three in unison.

"Hey guys, look! There's a river upfront, we should rest there for a while and refill our water supply!" said the girl with yellow hair in which was replied by the other "good idea.".

So, the four girls stopped next to the river and rest. After refilling their water supply, they gather to talk about what their next move is. The girl with black ribbon took out a map from her backpack and put it on the ground. The map was marked at a certain location, indicating the humanoid Grimm's sighting area. The girls agreed that the best strategy is to search separately because of the wide search area. Just before the girls go to their own ways, ruby felt a presence near them. But she ignored it because she thought it was just her imagination. And so, the girls left the river. Near the place where the girls gathered before leaving, there was a blonde woman in purple dress.

"Hmm... that one is sharp, maybe she... or rather they can fulfil my expectation." Said the mysterious blonde woman before disappearing into some sort of portal filled with eyes.

Not even 5 minutes has passed since the four girls separate themselves, one by one, the girls fell into the eyes-filled portals leading them to an unknown place.

**Gensokyo (a few days earlier)**

In the outer part of the magic forest, near the barrier, there is a kitsune or a nine tailed fox youkai and a blonde woman watching the barrier.

"Hmm... as of now the barrier can still hold the Grimm at bay, but it wont be long before they can break in." Said the yellow kitsune named Ran to her mistress, Yukari.

"Don't worry about it, I'll think of something... or rather I'll call someone." said Yukari as she slowly disappear into one of her gap.

"Someone, huh?" Ran said with doubt clouding her mind and words "I wonder who could it be." As she kept on monitoring the barrier.


	2. Stage 1

**Muenzuka (present day)**

After Ruby fell into one of Yukari's gaps, she found herself in an unfamiliar place. Currently, she is standing next to a river, and there is nothing alongside the river other than spider lilies (a type of flower). She decided to walk alongside the river while calling out to her team member, but no one answered. After walking a while, she saw a boat docking at the river side. She decided to check it out, hoping to find a clue about her whereabouts. In the boat she found a red haired girl in blue and white clothing peacefully sleeping.

"Excuse me..." said Ruby as she gently shake the sleeping girl's body. When suddenly the red haired girl yelled out loud.

"Shiki-sama, I'm not slacking off. It's just that there haven't been any souls to collect since this morning, so I decided to take a little nap in order to improve my performance later on!!. Because as they say 'rest today to work better in another day' and people always say that 'haste makes waste' so, I decided to rest and save my energy for when the busy time comes."(*) said the red haired girl as she formed a dogeza, without seeing who woke her up.

Ruby was shocked and left speechless for a while before she can say something. "um...I'm sorry to wake you up, but I just want to ask for direction since I'm lost." Said Ruby politely.

The red haired girl finally lift her head up and ask "Wait, who are you?".

"My name is Ruby, I was separated from my friends and want to ask for direction. I decided to ask you since you are the only person around here." Ruby explained her situation.

"I see. Lets start from the beginning, my name is komachi, the guide of the Sanzu river, and I am a Shinigami (god of death/grim reaper). Right now you are in Muenzuka, the place where dead spirit gather, although right now this place is rather empty. Judging from your clothes and the fact that you don't know this place, I assume you came from the outside world and got spirited away here. So, are there any questions?" said komachi.

" Muen-what?... Shinigami?... spirit?... what?" asked Ruby, not understanding a thing Komachi just said, while tilting her head a bit.

Komachi sighed as she scratch her head and explained "simply put, right now you are in the land of the dead" simply.

"Oh, I see." Said Ruby in a cheerful voice. "WAIT, WHAT ????" Ruby yelled as she just realize that Komachi said she is in the land of the dead. "But I'm still alive, I still have my pulse, my body is a bit cold but I'm sure I'm still alive. I don't want to die, can't I see my friends and sister again?" Ruby said as she burst into tears.

"Calm down, it's true that this is the land of the dead, but sometimes living people like you drifted here for some reason." Explained Komachi to calm Ruby down. "if you want to, I can take you to the human village, we might find your friends and sister there."

"Really?" asked Ruby while still crying.

"Really-really" Komachi replied.

Suddenly someone hit komachi's head from behind her and say "instead of the human village, just take her straight to the hakurei shrine." Said the mysterious person.

When komachi turned around it appears that the one who hit her was the Enma, Shiki Eiki, herself. Without wasting any second komachi formed a dogeza again and say the same thing (*) again.

"Yeah yeah, I know!" said the Enma, sounding a bit annoyed. "That's why I want you to take her to the shrine right now so you can return to work as quick as possible!" Adds the Enma to her subordinate.

"YES MA'AM!!" replied Komachi in high spirit, because she thought that this is a good chance for her to slack off... again.

And so, the two of them went to the shrine.

After the two of them left Muenzueka, the Enma mumbles to herself "geez, that blonde youkai really is something. To even 'hide' all the souls in order to get Komachi to do her bidding. I can't wait for the day I got to judge her."

**YAKUMO'S MANSION**

Yakumo's mansion is a lone Japanese-styled mansion surrounded by forest, away from the human village and the youkai mountain. The mansion is hidden from the perspective of all living being, both human and youkai alike, by a barrier similar to the one protecting and hiding Gensokyo from the outside world, almost like a miniature Gensokyo.

The silence that surrounded the mansion was broken when Ran yakumo, Yukari's familiar, suddenly slam open the door to yukari's room and shout "mistress, this is bad!" in panic.

"The barrier was breached. Roughly there are 400-500 grimms, but the exact number is still unknown." said Ran while still panicking. "Luckily I manage to close the breach before things got any worse."

"Is that so? You are so reliable" replied Yukari calmly as she put the paper she was reading down. "Speaking of reliable, you have no need to worry Ran, I've called some reliable "pest exterminators" to help us." Adds Yukari.

"By exterminators, you mean those four?" asked Ran "team RUBY or something?"

"Actually it's team RWBY, but yes." Yukari said while also correcting her familiar's mistake.

"But mistress, they are all kids." Ran raised her opinion "isn't it better to just call some real professional hunters?"

"It's precisely because they are kids that I summoned them." Said Yukari

"Huh?" Ran got even more confused by her mistress's reason.

"I mean, think about it! Gensokyo is a literal fantasy land, we got humans, youkai, ghosts and even gods in here. What do you think would happen if we call in some pro hunters?" explained Yukari in a calm but serious manner.

"They... will get curious... and would start investigating Gensokyo... right?" said Ran doubtfully after thinking for a while.

"Indeed." Said Yukari "If they started investigating this place, it would bring us nothing but trouble."

"So you picked out these kids knowing that no one would believe them if they say anything about this place, huh?" said Ran finally understanding the meaning behind her mistress' action.

"That's true." Replied Yukari.

"One more thing mistress, I already acquired some "samples" just like your order." Said Ran

"Good job Ran, now let us start our experiment." Said Yukari in serious tone.


	3. stage 2

**Bamboo forest of the lost**

This time is the story about Weiss Schnee, who found herself in the middle of a bamboo forest after falling through the mysterious portal. Weiss decided to scout the area searching for her teammates, when suddenly she heard a loud voice deep in the bamboo groove, so she decided to check it out. By the time she reached the source of the loud voice, she saw another white-haired girl in white shirt and red oversized pant fighting against a black-haired girl in a kimono.

"Die, Kaguya!" the white-haired girl yelled as she emits fire from her hand.

"Lol, angry much?" said Kaguya to provoke the white-haired girl, Mokou, even further while dodging the fire attack.

Mokou's movement came to a halt for a moment before she burst into flaming rage, both literally and figuratively.

"You stupid alien!" yelled Mokou "This time I'll burn you so bad, you can't even regenerate anymore!" as she shoot out a phoenix-shaped fire at Kaguya.

Of course Kaguya also dodge this attack, but now instead of going sideways, she flew up to a safe distance. Unfortunately for Weiss, the phoenix fire went straight to her. The fire flew at a relatively high speed, so evasion is impossible for her at the moment. Without further delay, Weiss created a large ice wall in front of her which acted as a shield. Upon noticing a giant wall of ice that suddenly appeared out of nowhere, both Kaguya and Mokou stopped fighting.

"Kaguya, I didn't know you could do that." Said Mokou as she pointed the ice wall

"No, it wasn't me." Said Kaguya as she shook her head.

In the midst of confusion between the two immortals, a voice was heard "You people need to be aware of your surrounding when you are having a duel!" Shout Weiss angrily "Thankfully it was me who almost got hit, what if a normal citizen got involved, huh?!"

"Wait, who are you?" asked Mokou and Kaguya in unison as both of them descent to the ground slowly.

"My name is Weiss Schnee, a trainee huntress from Beacon, nice to meet you." Said blake politely as she bow her head a bit.

"My name's Mokou and that cursed Japanese doll look-alike is called Kaguya." Said Mokou as she point her finger to Kaguya.

"Oi, what did you just call me, you old hag?" said Kaguya as she glare at Mokou.

"You heard me, you stupid alien." Said Mokou "Wait a second, why are you calling me an old hag? You are way older than me you ancient hag." Mokou said to provoke Kaguya.

Kaguya said nothing to Mokou and she just blew Mokou away with a large laser ball. Mokou got blown out of sight in just an instant.

"Is that okay?" ask Weiss calmly as she pointed at the direction to which Mokou was blown away "Isn't that very dangerous for her?"

"Oh, don't worry about that. That kind of thing won't kill her." Replied Kaguya calmly "She'll probably return here to challenge me again tomorrow anyway."

"I see." Said Weiss "Why are you guys fighting anyway?" ask Weiss out of curiosity.

"Its a long story." Replied Kaguya "More importantly, why are you so calm after seeing all of that?"

"Well, I can create a large ice wall in an instant, my friends can move in a high soeed, create clones, and have a superhuman strength. So, seeing people flying around and shooting fire is not that surprising to me." Explained Weiss.

"Good point!... Hmm Ice, white hair, and a cold personality... ah, you must be a yuki-onna (lit. Snow woman)" said Kaguya "I once read about it in a book I got from the human village, but this is the first time I've seen the real thing"

"Huh?" Weiss got confused by what Kaguya just said. "I'm not..." said Weiss before she got interrupted by kaguya.

"Oh, I know. Why don't we go to my place so we can talk while drinking tea?" said Kaguya because she was both interested and curious about the girl she just met.

"I guess that is better than talking in the middle of a forest, so I'll take up your offer." Said Weiss agreeing with Kaguya, while ignoring Kaguya's misunderstanding about Weiss' species.

**THE FOREST OF MAGIC**

In the forest of magic, there is a two story house covered by wild plant. In front of the house was a sign that said "Kirisame's Magic Shop". This shop have a wide varieties of goods, from "borrowed" grimoires to "totally not a scam" amulets. Aside from that, the shop owner sometimes also resolve incidents together with the Hakurei shrine maiden. The only thing this shop doesn't have is customer, since it is located in a youkai infested forest, where human rarely go to.

The quietness that enveloped the house was suddenly broken by the loud thumping noises from within the forest.

The door was slammed open from the inside "WHOEVER OR WHATEVER IS MAKING THAT SOUND, STOP IT!!!" yelled a blonde girl in a mainstream black and white witch's clothing angrily. But the sound didn't stop, instead it got louder and closer to the shop. Sensing an imminent danger, the black and white magician and also the shop owner, Marisa Kirisame, took out her weapon, Mini-Hakkero, and aim it at the direction of the sound.

Suddenly, a horde of black and white beast of all sizes came charging out of the forest and to the shop. Marisa fires a yellow laser beam from her weapon, but unfortunately it has no effect on the grimms. Despite still being shocked because her attack didn't work at all, Marisa quickly grabbed her broom and flew a few meters above the ground, away from the raging horde. Sadly, her house was destroyed by the grimm. Marisa, who can only see her house from above felt frustrated and extremely angry. She once again took out her weapon and aim it at the horde, but she was stopped by a mysterious woman's voice from behind her back.

"Marisa, stop!" said the mysterious woman "Magic are ineffective against them, so I suggest you to not waste anymore of your mana!"

When Marisa looked back, she saw a blonde woman in blue dress with red ribbon on her head and another one on her waist. This woman was also accompanied by a few flying dolls around her. Yes, this woman is Alice Margatroid, a puppet user and a fellow magician.

"But... my house." Marisa said with teary eyes.

"Don't worry about it, I can help you fix it later." Alice told Marisa to calm her down "I mean, everything in your house is stolen anyway. So your loss isn't that bad." Adds Alice.

"Hey, it was tough stealing those stuff you know?" Marisa said as if it was something to be proud about.

"At least try to deny the fact that you stole them, you shameless human." Alice sounded a bit annoyed. "Most importantly, we need to inform her about this!"

"Her?" asked Marisa

"I mean Reimu." Said the puppeteer shortly "No matter how you see it, this is an incident."

"Oh I see. Then lets go!" said Marisa as she left Alice behind.

"She really is shameless." Alice said in an annoyed tone.


	4. Stage 3

**FORMER HELL**

When Yang came to her senses, she found herself inside a large and dim tunnel. On one end of the tunnel she saw a complete darkness, while on the other end she saw a bright light. Yang decided that it is best if she went to the light, because it could probably lead her outside.

When she finally reached the light, she was amazed by the view in front of her. Instead of the surface, she saw a large city under the ground, it was beautiful and also bright, very different from the cave from which she came from. Yang decided to follow the paved road in front of the cave, thinking it would lead her to the town. At the end of the road she saw a bridge, and on the bridge there were three women talking to each other. One if them has long blonde hair, very tall and have a red horn growing from her forehead. The other girl is also blonde, but her hair and body height are shorter than the first girl, she also have pointy ears and emerald green eyes that stood out from the other girls. The last girl has green hair and wore a black hat with yellow ribbon as its accessory. Yang decided to ask them about direction, since those three are the only people around.

"Hey!" Yang shouted as she waved her hand "Can you guys tell me where I am?" ignoring their weird appearances

The three girls suddenly looked at Yang. They discussed something for a while before the tallest girl approach Yang. Yang knew that the girl was tall, but as she got closer she was taller that what Yang had in mind. The girl was more than 2 metres tall, Yang's head barely reached the girl's shoulder.

"My name is Yuugi." Said the tall woman menacingly "Who are you, and what do you want?" asked the tall girl right after she introduced herself.

"My name is Yang, I was separated from my friends and suddenly found myself here." Explained Yang while feeling a bit intimidated by Yuugi's overwhelming aura. "Can you tell me where I am?"

"I'll tell you everything you need to know... if you can defeat me." Yuugi told Yang "Based on your clothes and weapon, you are a fighter, right?"

"That's true, but I don't want to fight against civilian. Its not my style." Said Yang with laid back expression.

"BWAHAHAHA... don't worry about, I'm pretty tough if I do say so myself." Said Yuugi as she raised both of her hands parallel to her shoulder, like a T shape. "Now hit me with everything you got!" her voice turned serious all of a sudden.

"Guess, I got no choice huh?" Yang scratched her head "Don't cry if I beat you, okay?" Yang got into her offensive stance

Yang launched a punch at Yuugi's stomach with only half her full strength to scare Yuugi. But when Yang's punch landed on her opponent stomach, it was Yang's hand that got hurt but Yuugi doesn't seemed to take any damage.

"Is that all?" asked Yuugi without changing her pose.

"Of course not." Yang said confidently while hiding the fact that her attack doesn't seemed to get through Yuugi.

"Did you eat rocks for breakfast or something?" said Yang sarcastically, only to be ignored by Yuugi.

"Alright then, here I go again!" said Yang as she continuously punch Yuugi's stomach with everything she got.

Yuugi doesn't even fazed after receiving a lot of attack from Yang. After a while, Yuugi clenched her fist and punch Yang right in the stomach, the punch was so fast Yang doesn't even have time to react. Yuugi's punch sent Yang flying for a few metres from her original position. Yuugi walked closer to Yang while cracking her fingers.

"Well, I wasn't expecting much from you, but I got to say that you were not bad." Praised Yuugi.

"You know what? I'll tell you everything you want to know, cause I like your guts. Not many people would accept a challenge from an oni after all." Said Yuugi to Yang who were still lying on the ground and groaning in pain.

Yang doesn't replied to whatever Yuugi said because she was too hurt to focus. Suddenly, the other blonde girl with green eyes appeared from Yuugi's back.

"Tch, even though you lost the fight, you still get what you want. I'm jealous!" said the girl as she bit her nails.

"Parsee, you don't need to get jealous of that." Said Yuugi as she sat down next to Yang who were still in pain.

"That personality if yours also makes me jealous!" said Parsee as she continue biting her nails.

"Guess anything makes you jealous huh?" said Yuugi but was ignored by Parsee.

After a while, Yang's groaning finally stopped and she sat down too.

"Sorry about that, I guess I was too hard on you." Said Yuugi while scratching the back of her head.

"That's fine, as long as you tell me about the things I asked before." Said Yang while still touching the spot on her stomach where she was punched.

"Alright then. Currently you are in the former hell, which is located under ground." Explained Yuugi simply "As to how you can find your friends, I don't know the answer for that."

"What if I take her to the red-white miko? (Shrine maiden)" said a girl who were standing behind Parsee right after Yuugi was done talking.

"You come up with a good idea like that, I'm jealous." Said Parsee before she turned around and saw the green haired girl with black hat. "Koishi, when did you get here?!" asked Parsee as she move back a little bit because she was surprised.

"What are you talking about? I was here from the start." Claimed Koishi.

"Really?" the other three girls asked in unison.

"Ah, now that I think about it, there was a third person on the bridge when I called you guys." Claimed Yang.

"Oh yeah, I remembered I was talking to Parsee and another person before, that must be you right?" asked Yuugi.

"Yup, that's me. The one and only Komeji Koishi." Koishi replied cheerfully

"Wait a second, how come none of us realized and remembered that you were here?" asked Yang

"That's her ability. She is able to hide her presence by closing her heart. I'm jealous of that ability." Explained Parsee angrily

"Anything goes for your jealousy, huh, Parsee?" Asked Koishi, only to be ignored by Parsee.

"Putting that aside, let me take a look at your wound." Said Parsee to Yang.

Yang opened her shirt and revealed a nasty bruise that already turned purple. Parsee put both of her hands on Yang's wound, Parsee's hands started to emit a emerald green light, just like her eyes. Suddenly Yang's wound was gone, not even the tiniest trace was left behind.

"Wow, that's awesome. I didn't know you were a healer, thank you." Said Yang genuinely impressed. "Truth be told, I don't think that you were such a good person. I guess I must apologize to you."

"No need to apologize. I'm a good person because I want people to be happy." Explained Parsee

"Really, why?" Asked Yang

"Because if nobody is happy, I can't be jealous." Said Parsee.

The other three burst into laughter, while Parsee felt angry and jealous about how easy going her friends were.

**Note:**

I don't think I can upload new chapters for a while because I'm currently busy with college. The explanation about magic, dust, and why magic doesn't work on grimm will be given in the future chapters. Sorry for the inconvenience.


	5. Stage 4

**MYOREN TEMPLE**

"Myouren temple" that is the name of the building Blake suddenly found her self at. Just less than five minutes ago Blake and her teammates were on a mission in the middle of a forest, away from civilization. She was suddenly greeted by a little girl with green hair and something that looks like a pair of droopy brown ears.

"Hello!!" green haired girl in front of the temple's gate said loudly "My name is Kyouko, may I help you?"

"Ah yes, my name is Blake, and I think I'm lost." Blake explained her situation.

"You are lost? Hmm... oh I know, you should talk to Hijiri, I'm sure she would love to help you." Kyouko said cheerfully.

"Hijiri?" Blake tilting her head "Who's that?"

"Hijiri is the head priest of this temple and she love helping other people." Said Kyouko.

"well then, can you please take me to this Hijiri person?" Asked Blake nicely.

"Sure." Said Kyouko loudly as she turned herself toward the main building.

"Oh no, you don't!" a woman's sound came from the gate "You still have to clean the temple entrance!"

The two girls turned their heads toward the woman's sound and they saw a black haired girl in a sailor uniform and white shorts, complete with a male sailor hat. "I'll take her instead. You better clean the gate ground or else Ichirin will scold you!" the sailor girl told Kyouko. Kyouko agreed and told Blake to go with the sailor girl instead, and then she returned to clean the gate ground.

"By the way, my name's Murasa, nice to meet you." The sailor girl started the conversation as she led Blake to the main building, walking side by side

"I'm Blake, nice meeting you too." Blake replied.

Murasa quietly stole glances at Blake's head and also her butt. Blake, who realized this asked Murasa whether or not something is wrong with her outfits. Murasa startled and proceed to say "Forgive me if I'm being rude, but can I ask you something?" respectfully.

"Sure, ask away!" Blake raised one of her eyebrow

"Where's your tail?" Murasa asked.

"Huh?" was the only thing Blake could say, since she herself also isn't sure about what Murasa just said.

"I mean, since you have cat ears I assume that you are either a Bakeneko (youkai cat) or a Nekomata (youkai cat with two tails), but I can't seemed to found your tail. So I got curious." Explained Murasa.

"How did you know that I had cat ears?!" said Blake as she covered the black ribbon on her head.

"It is very obvious that you have cat ears. I even saw them moving and twitching even when there's no wind." Explained Murasa, stopping her steps to face Blake. "is that some sort of trend in cat eared girls community or something?"

"No, the truth is I'm hiding my cat ears... for reasons." Said Blake feeling a bit down. "can you please keep it a secret." Pleaded Blake

"My lips are sealed." Murasa said to Blake. Then Blake proceed to thank Murasa.

"Now, what are you talking about in front of the main building, I wonder?" Said yet another woman with purple hair from the building. "Why don't we talk inside instead? I'll prepare the tea."

**YAKUMO'S MANSION**

"Excuse me, mistress Ran, I've finished the job you gave me." Said a little girl in red dress and green cap with cat ears and a pair of cat tails as she open the mansion's door. Sadly, no one answered her, so she called her mistress, Ran, again for a while until Ran gave her an answer "I'm in the basement, so come down here!". The little girl then quickly went to the basement. As she reached the basement, she saw her mistress observing something under a microscope.

"What are you doing?" asked the cat girl, to which was answered by her mistress that she was observing something from the outside world. Something called "Dust" which is commonly used in advanced weaponry to fight grimm.

"By the way, why were you searching for me, Chen?" asked Ran to the little cat girl

"it's about the job you gave me. I managed to separate the grimm to the designated locations as per your order." Said Chen with a smug face.

"Good job Chen, as expected of my familiar." Said Ran as she patted Chen's head.

"By the way, I have a question. I get that sending the grimm to the underground and to SDM (scarlet devil's mansion) because the people are all strong there, but why did you told me to send some of the grimm to the bamboo forest, is it so that they would get lost or something?" asked Chen.

"There's that too, but that's not all. Have you forgotten about the people who lived in the bamboo forest?" said Ran.

"People? ... hmmm... ah, I remember now, its the Lunarians, right?" Chen finally remembered

"That's right, those lunarians are pretty 'durable' you know." Adds Ran

"But, can they handle all the grimm I sent there?" Chen looks a bit worried. "I mean, there are many rabbit youkai there but they aren't exactly fighters, the red-blue lady is just a doctor, and then there's the princess who is –" Chen was cut off by her mistress.

"You may not know this but I guess I'll tell you. There is one moon rabbit with an exceptional combat prowess who is equal to a small army. For the red-blue lady, a doctor she may be but she still is one of the perpetrator in the Touhou 10: Imperishable Night. Lastly, the princess have a great magical ability and also immortality. So, I'm sure everything will be okay." Explained Ran.

"Oh my, what an interesting conversation you have there, mind if I join in?" said Yukari who suddenly appeared from one of her gaps.

"Mistress, welcome back. So, how was experiment?" Ran bowed down

"It was a great success, I just found out something interesting about the grimm." Stated Yukari while sitting on her gap

"Really?" Chen asked enthusiastically

"Yup. It turns out that grimm are some sort of artificial lifeform, similar to golem. Although they are different from the golem we are familiar with." Said Yukari

What's the different between them and normal golem?" Chen asked again

"well, there are a few difference between the two, but the most notable difference would be the ingredient and their source of power. Normal golem are usually made of rocks or metal, but the grimm are made of smoke like substance even I'm not familiar with. As for their power source, normal golem use the magical energy or mana from their user, meanwhile the grimm absorbs all the mana in the surrounding area, making them immune to magic attack and spell." Yukari explains her finding to Ran and Chen. "what about your finding, Ran?"

"While you were researching grimm, I was researching about dust and why they are effective against grimm. It turns out that dust is capable of neutralizing mana that came into contact with it, therefore effective in defeating or rather killing grimm." Ran stated her finding.

"I see. Looks like things are started to go the way I want it." Yukari puts on an evil smile.


	6. Stage 5

Note: in the previous chapter when Ran said "Touhou 10: imperishable night" was meant as a 4th wall break joke. Although I don't think that it worked well enough as a joke.

Before you start the new chapter, I want to clarify something:

Magic may be ineffective against grimm, but the characters' power is different. For example, Yukari's border manipulation can be used against grimm (she just don't want to use it), because their power and magic are fundamentally different since they are similar to the semblance.

One more thing, I haven't uploaded any chapters recently because things have been stressful IRL, mainly because of corona pandemic and my college assignments.

**Stage 5**

Forest near the human village

Ruby and Komachi are walking together toward the human village

"Now that I've calmed down, why are we going to a shrine?" asked Ruby

"Hmm... where should I start?" Komachi scratched her head "do you know what a youkai is?"

"Nope," replied Ruby

"Thought so. Basically, youkai is a mythical creature in Japanese folklore, they come in various shape and sizes. Youkai also have different abilities, some are super strong, others can read minds and so on. One youkai, in particular, can manipulate border, we are on our way to meet her because she is the only one who can send you home." Explained Komachi.

"Is this place really far from Beacon or something?" Ruby raised her question

"The problem with this place is not the distance, but the barrier. This place is inside some sort of invisible barrier you can't see and touch. No matter how far you go, you will never reach the barrier. trust me, I've tried." Said Komachi

"How far did you go?" Ruby was curious

"About the same distance from the earth to the moon and back." Said Komachi

"That's absurd." Stated Ruby

"I know, but it is the truth, whether you believe it or not," Komachi told Ruby.

"Then, what about the shrine?" Ruby moved the conversation's topic

"Oh yeah, almost forgot about that. The shrine we are hheaded to right now, the Hakurei shrine, is a shrine where youkai gather, including the gap youkai we are looking for." Said Komachi.

"Why do the youkai gather in a shrine?" Ruby asked another question

"No idea, they just do." Answered Komachi.

"Hmm" Ruby wasn't satisfied with the answer she got. "By the way, you said that you are a grim reaper, right?"

"yup" said Komachi

"Does that mean you have a scythe, like the one in stories?" Ruby got enthusiastic.

"I sure do, wanna see?" Offered Komachi

"Yes, please!" Ruby's eyes are brimming in delight

"Very well, feast your eyes upon my pride and joy, my beloved scythe!" Komachi sounded serious as her scythe slowly appears out of thin air and she struck a pose.

"Woooow !!!!" is the only thing Ruby managed to say

"Cool right?" Komachi asked smugly

Ruby then asked Komachi about her scythe and the story it holds. To Ruby's surprise, the scythe has never been used as a weapon, it was only used as a symbol for the deceased spirit to come to Komachi in the Sanzu river so she can carry them to the other side and sometimes it was used for intimidating the enemy who wanted to disrupt her works.

Ruby was confused about Komachi, a grim reaper, who doesn't kill people. She thought, how could a grim reaper NOT kill people, isn't that their one and only job? Komachi, who knows that Ruby was confused, said that "I'm indeed a Shinigami, but I'm just a ferrywoman whose job is to deliver the spirit, not the one taking (killing) them. There are other divisions for that.". Ruby is still not satisfied with the answer and asked about the difference between Komachi and the other "division".

Komachi stopped her steps and turned to Ruby. Her carefree expression suddenly turned serious "I can tell you, but it is better if you keep it a secret for the rest of your life!!"

Ruby is not sure how to feel because the atmosphere turned serious very quickly and said "o-ok."

"good girl. The truth is, there is no such thing as a grim reaper who kills people, that was just a lie we, beings from the other side, crate to make the mortals do good deeds in life. Humans, youkai, and many others tend to act violently if they are given too much freedom, so we scare them a little with the story of the scary grim reaper that will take your life to keep them in check." Komachi's expression is still very serious as she continues her story.

She told Ruby that most mortal creatures will die on their own eventually, so they don't need to be killed... But, there are some exceptions that just won't die on their own, like those who drank from the fountain of youth, those who sold their soul to the devil, those who use witchcraft to live forever and many other. These people who have exceeded their lifespan will be visited by a Kishin (fierce god) who will personally drag those people to the deepest part of hell.

Ruby's face indicated that she is so scared after finding out the truth. Yet, she managed to muster a small amount of courage she had left to ask whether or not Komachi knows about the people who have exceeded their lifespan.

Komachi's expression started to return to its former carefreeness, and said, "I know some people who are living beyond their lifespans, like a pink-haired girl who love to play hermit, some aliens living in the bamboo forest, and a nun who loves to ride a motorcycle."

"What an odd bunch" commented Ruby, feeling more relaxed

"Hehe, it might be strange coming from me, but can't argue with that." Replied Komachi, giggling

rustle 2x

The girls' attention turned toward the bushes near them, from which the sound came from. Ruby instinctively took out the crescent rose (gun mode) and took aim. Meanwhile, Komachi is still standing without a care in the world. All of a sudden, a small group of Grimm came charging at them.

Ruby, although feeling surprised, still managed to shot down some Grimm before they got too close to her. When the Grimm finally got close enough, Ruby's weapon transformed to its scythe form.

The red-hooded huntress jumped over the charging beast while simultaneously cuts it in half. The moment her feet touched the ground, she started swinging her large-sized weapon to kill the remaining beast swarming her. After a while, she managed to kill most of the Grimm, but a couple of them managed to escape Ruby's scythe and aimed to attack Komachi instead.

"Komachi, watch out !!!" Ruby shouted because she knew that she couldn't reach Komachi in time to save her.

The Grimm who finally got close to the Shinigami lift its paw and attack her. Ruby closed her eyes because she is scared of seeing Komachi being mauled. A few moments later, she opened her eyes again to see Komachi still standing with her arms tucked behind her head while the Grimm attack her with its razor-sharp claws. Ruby was amazed by the sight before her eyes, the Grimm's attack has completely no effect on Komachi or rather, the attack doesn't even seem to reach Komachi, despite being so close together. This is thanks to her special ability, distance manipulation, Komachi added the distance between her body and the Grimm's attack.

"So this is Grimm. I've heard a lot about them, but this is the first time seeing the real deal." Said Komachi ignoring the Grimm's aggressive attack towards her. "Hmm, I can't feel any life force from them, they must be some sort of golem. Which means I can go nuts without restraints." A wide smile formed on her face.

Komachi dropped her hands and a traditional-styled scythe appeared out of thin air. With only one swing of the scythe, Komachi managed to cut the Grimm in half, then, she walked towards the other Grimm that is out of her reach. Instead of attacking, the Grimm cowered in fear by the sight of the approaching Komachi, who, right now, looked like a real grim reaper from legends.

"Why aren't you attacking me?" Komachi asked the scared Grimm in an eerie voice, before her scythe pierced through the monster's skull, killing it in an instant.

"Whoops, I got a bit carried away and leaked out my godly aura." Said Komachi, scratching her head, as she turned away from the crumbling Grimm's corpse toward Ruby.

Ruby's legs gave out because of Komachi's death aura. She just sat there, as she watches Komachi coming closer to her position.

"What was that?... That was very scary" Ruby said as her whole body trembles. Komachi remembered that every living being who got exposed to her aura will be so scared, they lose all will to resist.

Komachi thought to herself "I really went to far this time, this girl will..." before she got interrupted.

"That was awesome, you looked like a real grim reaper." Ruby's eyes are glittering in excitement.

"I feel stupid for having a serious monologue with myself just now." Thought Komachi with a deadpan expression. " I am a real grim reaper, mind you!" she sounded a bit annoyed.


End file.
